Journal bearing



April 29, .1941.

Filed Sept. 20, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet, 1

k l9 INVENTOR E 1. EUGENE cox 22 23 Ev 38 JWW 4 ATTORNEY April 29, 1941; v I L CQX 2,240,111

JOURNAL BEARING Filed Sept. 20; 1940- 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 4 A2 no.5. i Y 26 INVENTOR LEUGENE COX ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 29, 1941 UNITED v STATES PATENT OFFICE;

JOURNAL assume Isaac Eugene Cox, Ma, assignor to National Bearing Metals Corporation, St. Louis, Mo., acorporation ofNcw York Applicationseptember 2c, 1940, SerialNo. 357,560

comm. (c1. cos-s) My invention relates'to a journal bearing and in the form shown is particularly adapted for use in railway car and locomotive axle bearings. The invention is specifically directed to that type of bearing in which the oil for lubricating the bearing is raised from a reservoir or sump in the lower part of the axle box and discharged upon the upper part 'of the bearing. Such a device provides the bearing with ample 011 not only to lubricate it but to dissipate heat generated by friction of the bearing. Inuse, however, certain faults have been found to be inherent in this type of hearing as now constructed. Among these faults are the short life of the oil seal which must be of the rubbing type, and of the driving connection which must be employed because thegial raising disk is mounted on the lid of the axle One object of my invention is to so construct the bearing-that a non-rubbing type of oil, seal may be employed. To this end I replace the usual partial bearing with a full sleeve bearing and.

provide other means for the self-aligning function of the structure.

Another object of my invention is to mount the oil raising disk o'nthe axle, ,thus' av6idin: the use of driving connections for the disk. The practical application of this feature is dependent upon the use of the sleeve type bearing above referred to.

A further object of myinvention is to provide floating members to take the imposed lateral thrust loads.

Further objects of my invention are to so arrange the ofl circulating system as to effectively lubricate both the sleeve bearing and the thrust bearings and in general to improve themechanical construction of the device.

one form of journal bearing made in accordance with my invention Figure 1 is a central longitudinal section; Figure 2 is*a partial section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;"Figure3is' 'partlya section taken, on the line 3-: of Figure 1 and partly a front view with the lid'remoyed; Figure 4 is an enlarged'sectiontaken on theline l-lofFigurel: Figure5isasectiontakenon lsrged section showing one form of oil seal which 'marbeemployedwithmybearing an oil reservoir orsump 5 at its lower end adjacent the lid. Journale'd in the bearing 2 is "the axle 6 As the axle is completely surrounded by the sleeve bearing, relative movement of' these parts cannot be employed to. provide-self-alignment. ,I,'therefore, provide the roof of the box witha convex boss or chair] which cooperates withamequalizer seat 8 having a concave face of the same radius as the chair permitting the necessary angular movement of the journal unit to follow the axle relative to the truck.

The end of the axle 8 is provided with a reduced portion II) in which is ignored a peripheral roove ll. Mounted on the educed portion In is an oil disk I2 which is preferably flared as shown to position its peripheral oil carrying surface I! in front of the end of the axle. The disk is secured in position by a two part locking ring l4 provided with aninwardly projecting flange I5 which engages with groove H. The periphery of the ring is conical and engages with the correspondingly shaped conical inner face of a rejecting" end of ring II which extends somewhat beyond the end of the axle.v Both the thrust plate and the liner are provided with. central openings for the passage of oil. Placed between the lid and the thrust plate is a shim 22 to adjust thelatter to limit the end thrust of the axle. In the accompanying drawings which illustrate disk 24 of fiber. 'Iwofloating thrust bearings thus provided, bearing 21 taking the end thrust of the axle and bearing 2t taking the end thrust necessary to move the box in its pedestal (not shown).

The box is provided with a dome 2c in which is mounteda spoon 22 (shown in detail in Figures 4 and 5) for removing the oil from the periphe'ry of the oildisk l2. This spoon is duplex in form so as to fimctionwhenthe axleflis rotat- "tionby The bdxis soas'to form either direction. It consists of a box.

, periphery shaped member secured in the dome by bolts 21. It is provided at each side with a cross-passage 28 open at both ends for the discharge of oil. Each of these cross-passages is provided with an oil inlet opening 29, the lower edge 30 of which forms a sharp lip. It is important that these openings 29 be of less width than the periphery of the disk l2 to secure the proper operation of the device. The bottom of the spoon should be the disk is rotating in the direction indicated by arrow A, oil will enter the spoon through open-,

ing 29 at the side of the spoon toward which the disk is traveling and be discharged at both ends of the cross-passage 28 as indicatedby the arrows B. D

In the box is a cored pasage 32 for receiving oilfrom the rear end of the spoon. The lower end of this passage is bifurcated and extends downwardly around the bearing 2 to longitudinal passages 33 in the box. These latter passages communicate through openings 34 with longitudinal passages 35 in the inner face of the bearing. To prevent the bearing from rotating in the box and so moving passages 35 out of communication with passages 33, I provide a key 36 between the bearing and box. Return of oil -leaking from the bearing to the sump is provided by an inclined passage 31. In the lid is a cored pasage 38 receiving oil from the front end of the spoon and delivering it at the center of thrust bearing 2|.

The rear end of the box is provided with an enlarged bore 39 and is covered by a back plate 40. The oil seal between the box and axle may be like that shown in Figure 6 in which the cover plate 40 is provided with labyrinth grooves interlocking with grooves 'on a slinger 4| mounted on the axle.

, In the operation of my bearing the disk l3 extends below the oil level in the sump 5 and as it rotates with the axle carries the oil up upon its periphery. This arrangement I find to be more effective than carrying the oil on the interior of a trough-shaped disk. At the top of the disk the oil is removed by the spoon and discharged into the passages 32 and 38. Oil flows from the passage 32 to the longitudinal passages 33 and thence through openings 34 to longitudinal passages 35 where it effectively lubricates the axle bearing. Overflow from the upper end of passage 32 is directed by the conical part of disk I! to the floating thrust bearing 24. Oil entering passage 38 passes to the floating thrust bearing 2| to lubricate it from the center and overflow from passage 38 falls down upon the thrust plate 20 and so assists in lubricating this bearing by applying oil to its periphery.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

. 1. In a device of the class described, the combination with an axle box, or a lid therefor, a sleeve bearing carried by the box, an axle in said bearing, a floating thrust bearing positioned between the end of the axle and the lid, an oil raising disk carried by the axle, a floating thrust bearing between the sleeve baring and the disk, and a spoon cooperating with the periphery of the disk to remove oil therefrom and discharge it in two directions, one oil dischargelubricating the first named thrust bearing, the other. oil

discharge lubricating the second named thrust bearing and the axle bearing,

2. In a device of the class described, the com bination with an axle box, of a lid therefor, a sleeve bearing carried by the box, an axle in said bearing, a disk interposed between the lid and axle and forming afloating thrust bearing for the latter, an oil raising disk, means for securing said disk to the axle, said means including a peripheral groove in the axle, a divided lockin ring having an inwardly projecting flange entering the groove and a laterally projecting flange forming retaining means for the thrust bearing, the outer face of said ring being beveled, a retaining ring having an inner beveled face engaging the outer face of the locking ring, and means for forcing the retaining ring laterally to clamp the lock ring in position.

I. EUGENE COX. 

